The Blues knew this was going to be a tough fixture, but with a new coaching team and a successful preseason which included a 74 – 0 beating of Wallingford, there is a different feeling and a real buzz about the team.

In perfect conditions for running rugby, Salisbury kicked off to the Blues. For the first 20 minutes it was all Newbury. The forwards were running at pace and dominating the set piece and the back line were finding holes in the Salisbury back division. After several phases of play, the Blues were awarded a penalty and Captain and fly half Jack Muggridge successfully converted the kick to give the Blues the lead after 8 minutes.

Newbury collected the kick off and the pack again provided the backs with a constant stream of good clean ball. After several phases the ball was spun wide and it was winger Jamie Futcher who went over in the corner, Muggridge missed the conversion, but the Blues were in control.
Salisbury then “woke up” and started to play, putting phases together and using their superior size and weight advantage, but the Blues defence held strong and turned the ball over on several occasions. But Salisbury continued to put pressure on the Blues defence and eventually a penalty was conceded and converted by Salisbury.
From the Kick off Salisbury continued to put pressure on the Blues, but again the tackling was excellent, with every player making the hits. It was evident that Salisbury and their vocal supporters were becoming increasingly frustrated with not being able to score, this was due to errors and knock ons, unfortunately Newbury failed to clear their line on 3 consecutive occasions and this allowed Salisbury to get the momentum and eventually try the wanted on the stroke of half time. This was converted making the score 10 – 8.

Newbury started the 2nd Half and immediately put themselves under pressure as the kick off didn’t go over the 10 metre line. From the scrum, Salisbury strung together some phases which resulted in the ball being spun to the winger who sprinted up and allegedly over the touchline to score. All the Blues players stopped and waited for the touch judge to raise his flag and the referee to blow his whistle, but unfortunatly neither of them did and the Salisbury winger sprinted to score. The referee then consulted with the touch judge and the try was awarded much to the disagreement of the Blues Supporters on that side of the pitch.

This score fired the Blues and they took the game back to Salisbury, the Blues Pack now had the upper hand and they were dominant in the Scrum, resulting in Salisbury making several interchanges. But these did not stop the Blues pack driving the opposition back.
With the pack dominate, the backs got some clean and quick ball and again found holes in the Salisbury defence. But due to unforced errors and knock ons, it was the Blues who were becoming increasingly frustrated. They continued to pressure the home side’s line and from a quick tap penalty and a series of drives, scrum half Toby Thorne dived over the line to score. Unfortunately the referee was not in right place and judged that the ball was held up over the line.
The Blues continued to try and find that elusive score but despite having the lion’s share of possession they could not get over the line, this was due to some good Salisbury defence and errors and forcing the offload.

The rest of the match was an even affair, but the Blues Pack remained in control to the end. The final score being 15 – 8 to Salisbury.
Newbury will take a lot of positives from this match, the first being a bonus point, the performance of the forwards showed that they can be a dominant force in this league and the backs found and exploited holes in the defensive line.

This was a game that Newbury gave to Salisbury and on reflection it was a missed opportunity to lay a marker down in this competitive league. Newbury entertain Swanage & Wareham on Saturday at Monks Lane 3pm Kick Off and they will look to address the errors in training and give the Home supporters something to cheer about on Saturday afternoon.

Man-of-the-Match was awarded to Ian Herriot.